Three

Today is for celebrating my wacky, sweet, creative, brilliant, adorable daughter. Happy third birthday, Harper! I am so lucky to be your mommy. You are a joy to us every day.

Brad's parents left this morning. Last night we went to the park for one last attempt at some family photos. We ended up with a couple of cute ones after all.

Due to an unfortunate camera incident I’m still getting the photos from the Birthday Extravaganza together, so the official party post will have to follow. In the meantime, please enjoy two anecdotes featuring our favorite toddler.

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Harper likes to do everything her best friend, Zoe, does.  I mean everything, including following her into the bathroom at potty time.  So Harper and I had a talk about how using the bathroom is something you do by yourself because going potty is a private time. She really seemed to like the idea that she was doing something so special that she had to do it alone. Since then she has been informing me when she has to use the bathroom and solemnly observing what has become her new potty time ritual.

Then, last night after dinner, while Brad, my in-laws and I were enjoying some conversation around the kitchen table, Harper announced very importantly and at full volume, “I need some personal private time!” dropped her drawers and shuffled to the bathroom across the entire length of the house as fast as she could with her pants around her ankles.

I think the definitions of “personal” and “private” have eluded her.

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This morning I walked in on Harper as she was role playing with her (exponentially accumulating) dinosaurs when the following exchange occurred.

Baby Dinosaur (yelling): “No! I do not want to clean it up!”

Mommy Dinosaur (calmly): “Do you want to go into Time Out?”

BD: “No! I do NOT want to go into Time Out!”

MD: “You have to go into Time Out.”

BD: “Not yet! I’m not ready for Time Out!”

MD: “OK. You can go to Time Out when you are ready.”

Clearly this occurred in some sort of magical fairy land because I do not recall any conversation in real life ever progressing in this manner.